Go-slow firemen find school ablaze

FIREFIGHTERS ordered to stick to 30mph when they checked a school alarm found a classroom engulfed in flames. They were told to keep to the speed limit and to switch off their blue lights and sirens as part of a new go slow policy for non-urgent incidents.

FIREFIGHTERS ordered to stick to 30mph when they checked a school alarm found a classroom engulfed in flames.

They were told to keep to the speed limit and to switch off their blue lights and sirens as part of a new go slow policy for non-urgent incidents.

The job involved checking an automatic alarm at Medlock Valley Infant School in Oldham, but turned out to be a suspected arson attack.

The classroom, which was due for demolition, burned to the ground and two others were damaged by smoke. No-one was injured.

It took the firefighters about 10 minutes to get there, double the time it would have taken with their sirens activated.

Union leaders say the incident highlights the flaws in the policy, introduced on August 1 to reduce the risk of crashes involving fire engines.

Priority

Kevin Brown, brigade secretary for the Fire Brigades' Union, said: "Any firefighter will tell you the first few minutes of an incident can make all the difference. Getting there as quickly and as safely as possible is clearly a priority, both for the safety of the public and for the fire crews."

Statistics released by the brigade show 97.5 per cent of automatic fire alarm call-outs turn out to be false alarms, yet fire engines sent out to these calls were involved in 100 accidents.

A father-of-two died last year after a fire engine responding to a genuine 999 call went through a red light in Eccles and crashed into his car.

Regarding the school fire, Alan Lee, from Oldham Council, said it would not affect the school's re-opening in September.

He added: "The LEA is happy with the speedy and professional way the emergency service dealt with the fire."

Tony Ciaramella, from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We received a call notifying us of an automatic fire alarm sounding at these premises.

"This was risk-assessed by our experienced operational crews who decided to proceed at normal road speed in accordance with the Drive to Arrive policy.

"If we had received confirmation of a fire, we obviously would have proceeded under blue light conditions."

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